Youth of May
Youth of May is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Lee Do-hyun, Go Min-si, Lee Sang-yi, and Keum Sae-rok. It premiered on KBS2 on May 3, 2021, and aired every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 until June 8, 2021, for 12 episodes. It is an original drama of OTT media service Wavve and is available for streaming on its platform.
Synopsis
Youth of May is set in the year 1980 during the Gwangju Uprising, follows the love story of medical student Hwang Hee-tae and nurse Kim Myung-hee. Rather than focusing on the frontline of the Gwangju Uprising, the drama is about the love and friendships of young people who would've had ordinary lives otherwise.Hwang Hee-tae becomes the pride of Gwangju when he enters Seoul National University College of Medicine with top marks. His best friend Kyung-soo, an avid pro-democracy activist, insists they open an illegal clinic for students on the run from the government. One day, a factory worker is injured during a protest. In exchange for the costs of discreetly transporting himself and the factory worker to his hometown, Hee-tae must go to a meeting with a potential marriage partner arranged by his father. At this meeting, Hee-tae meets Myung-hee, a nurse persevering through the hardships of life. She only agrees to go to this meeting in place of her friend Soo-ryeon, because she needs to come up with the airfare to go study in Germany. However, Myung-hee and Hee-tae end up falling in love.
In May 1980, amidst the heated passion and cries for democracy that reverberate throughout Gwangju, Hee-tae and Myung-hee find themselves in a twist of fate.
Cast
Main
- Lee Do-hyun as Hwang Hee-tae
- * Choi Won-young as elder Hwang Hee-tae
- Go Min-si as Kim Myung-hee
- Lee Sang-yi as Lee Soo-chan
- Keum Sae-rok as Lee Soo-ryeon
Supporting
Hwang Hee-tae's family
- Oh Man-seok as Hwang Gi-nam
- Shim Yi-young as Song Hae-ryeong
- Choi Seung-hoon as Hwang Jang-tae
Kim Myung-hee's family
- Kim Won-hae as Kim Hyeon-cheol
- Hwang Young-hee as Choi Soon-nyeo
- Jo Yi-hyun as Kim Myung-soo
- Park Hye-jin as Myung-hee's grandmother.
Lee Soo-chan and Lee Soo-ryeon's family
- Um Hyo-sup as Lee Chang-geun
- Hong Boo-hyang as Lee Soo-chan and Lee Soo-ryeon's aunt. A housemaid.
Pyeonghwa Hospital
- Park Chul-min as Choi Byeong-gil
- Kim Bo-jung as Kim Min-ju
- Kim Yi-kyung as Oh In-yeong
- Jang Won-hyeok as Yoo Byeong-cheol
Military
- Kwon Young-chan as Kim Kyung-soo
- Kim Eun-soo as Lee Kwang-gu
- Noh Sang-bo as Hong Sang-pyo
Boarding House
- Park Se-hyun as Lee Jin-ah
- Heo Jung-do as Lee Kyung-pil
Others
- Jung Wook-jin as Choi Jeong-haeng
- Lee Hwang-eui as Han Suk-joong
- Lee Kyu-sung as Jeong Hye-geon
- Joo Bo-young as Park Seon-min
- Kim Tae-bum as Park Dong-wook
- Nam Tae-woo as detective
- Kim In-seon as Jung Seok-chul
Special appearances
- Kim Hyun as Aunt
- Park Ah-sung as Ah-seong
- Kwon Eun-bin as Yu-jin
- Kwon Hyuk-hyun as In-jae
- Yoo Soon-woong as Priest
- Bae Sung-il as Chief
- Oh Kyu-taek as Used car dealer
- Kwak Ja-hyoung as Sang-gon
- Lee Joong-yul as Mr. Kim
- Jung Ji-ahn as Bus attendant
- Jin Yong-wook as Hyun-chul
- Gu Da-song as Bo-yeon
- Lee Young-jin as Doctor
- Choi Nam-wook as Taxi driver
- Jang Tae-min as Ambulance driver
- Han Myung-hwan as Kim Sung-wook
- Jo Ji-hyun as Bus station employee
- Park Eun-young as Kim Sung-wook's mother
- Ha Sung-min as Kim Sung-wook's father
- Sung Ki-yoon as Hwang Jung-tae
- Hong Eun-jeong as Hwang Jung-tae's secretary
- Kim Ju-yeon as Nurse
- Lee Sang-hwa as Violent hospital patient
- Jang Do-ha as Lee Seo-on
- Jung Hee-tae as Kim Kyung-soo
Production